Archive By Section - State

• BILL INCREASES FINES FOR TEXTING WHILE DRIVING: SACRAMENTO (AP) - California drivers would face tougher consequences for chatting and texting on their cellphones while driving under a bill that passed the California Assembly.

FRESNO (AP) - Excessive groundwater pumping for irrigation in California's agricultural belt can stress the San Andreas Fault, potentially increasing the risk of future small earthquakes, a new study suggests.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bill to make California the first in the nation to impose a statewide ban on plastic bags at certain retailers passed a key legislative committee on Wednesday, but the legislation faces staunch opposition from bag manufacturers working to stem a flood of local bans meant to end clutter in landfills and beaches.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A prominent anti-tax group says it won't oppose a bill that would close a loophole in California's Proposition 13, effectively approving a bid to change the landmark law for the first time since voters passed it 36 years ago.

MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google is once again selling its Internet-connected eyewear to anyone in the U.S. as the company fine-tunes a device that has sparked intrigue and disdain for its potential to change the way people interact with technology.

CARLSBAD (AP) - Flames engulfed suburban homes and shot up along canyon ridges in the worst of a half-dozen blazes that broke out Wednesday in Southern California during a second day of a sweltering heat wave.

MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google is planning to release statistics documenting the diversity of its workforce for the first time amid escalating pressure on the technology industry to hire more minorities and women.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California Republicans who have been trying to rebrand their party as more inclusive and attuned with the issues that Californians care about had hoped this year to offer a candidate for governor who fit that image.